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E-Evidence: EuroISPA adopts Position Paper

Brussels, 3 July 2018- EuroISPA is the voice of the European Internet industry, representing over 2500 Internet Services Providers from across Europe and all along the Internet value chain.EuroISPA’s members have long worked with judicial authorities in their countries of operation, and thus have valuable insights on the functioning of existing cooperation. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of EuroISPA’s members are SMEs, and as such, face novel challenges from any new legal regime. EuroISPA has long been engaged on the e-evidence file, having been very active in the proposal’s preparatory stages.

EuroISPA has been a longstanding interlocuter in policy discussions on how to improve cooperation procedures, using its representative role at, for example, Europol’s EC3 communications providers advisory group, the European Commission DG JUST/DG HOME taskforce on e-evidence, and the former European Commission expert group on data retention, to advance such discussions.

EuroISPA and its members feel compelled to stress the negative consequences that will arise from any framework that privatises law enforcement and does not provide clear safeguards for ISPs. Furthermore, EuroISPA emphasises the need for SME exemptions to offset the considerable administrative, legal and financial burden incurred by the cooperation set out by the e-evidence proposal.